A Small detour
by Deepquote
Summary: Nabiki/Ranma A view from the future as its returned to the past. An Ending and a Begining.


_**A Small Detour "Revised Edition" **_

By Deepquote

**Author's notes:** Well here it is. The last draft of ASD that I posted to the web. I've tried to correct it a little more to start with. Right now, I'm just getting used to 's posting system again. There will be later. Edited to comply with rules.

**An Ending and a Beginning**

Clutched tightly in her husband's arms, Nabiki Saotome was the perfect picture of contentment. The feel of Ranma's strong arms wrapped around her was one of the few comforts that Nabiki could not do without. Ever since the Ice Queen of Furinkan High had melted, Nabiki had found herself in Ranma's arms at least once a day. True, it wasn't for romantic reasons that she found herself being held by him on most occasions, but rather because she needed to be protected.

Here, she was protected from Ranma's numerous suitors and enemies, who either didn't care for innocent bystanders, or for some, because she wasn't an innocent bystander in their eyes. But she didn't care at all about the reason for being here. Rather, the only thing she cared about at all was Ranma, her protector. She was just so happy being held by him, knowing he was the man that she loved. Feeling safe with no care in the world, always knowing he would be there to protect her.

This time, both of them were safe from harm. Being in Bermuda, several thousand miles away from all the trouble back home, helped put Nabiki at ease. Lying there on the bed, Nabiki gazed around the room, continuing to enjoy her peaceful awakening. Quiet was something that had become a virtually non-existent state since Ranma's arrival at her home. At first, Nabiki missed the calm and tranquility that her home used to possess before Ranma.

It was a time when she used to be able to easily prepare for what the day brought, but with Ranma's arrival, that quickly changed. Still, Nabiki quickly adjusted to the craziness that came with Ranma. She even found that she enjoyed the non-stop adventures that kept occurring, even if they did get a bit ridiculous at times. Thinking back over the morning battles at the Tendo

house, one morning stood out among all other. It was the morning it all changed. It was the morning when ice changed to water.

Nabiki had never been the same since her mother died. While she still maintained her childlike curiosity and fierce intellect that had been evident even back when she was a child; Nabiki became someone else. Nabiki's mother had been everything to her, as any child's mother is when they are young. Kimiko Tendo was kind, smart, and beautiful; in short Mrs. Tendo was everything a little girl wanted to be when they grew up. Her death changed what Nabiki would have been when she grew up. On that day, Nabiki changed from a little girl into an ice queen. And this ice had stayed intact until this one morning. The morning when the ice melted away.

4 months ago...

The day had started like any other. Kasumi glided gracefully around in her kitchen, dutifully preparing the morning meal for her beloved family and guests. Akane awoke and immediately began her frantic rush to prepare for the coming school day. Ranma slept fitfully, exhausted from the previous day's activities. Yesterday had been yet another battle for the young martial artist and even as he slept now, he was unsure of why the fight had started in the first place. Genma slept beside Ranma, his bulky panda form snoring loudly, as he dreamed of retiring on the success of the united schools of Anything Goes Martial Arts. Nabiki stumbled out of her bed, a hot bath and a hot cup of tea being high on her priorities list.

Before Nabiki had managed to get to have either, a rage filled scream echoed throughout the Tendo home. Such a sound could only signal one thing. Her little sister was angry... again. Picking up her pace, Nabiki walked toward Ranma's room with two things on her mind. The health of the pigtailed martial artist, and the amount of damage Akane was going to do to both him and the house. The sound of shattering wood and tile signaled that someone left the house by forceful ejection, and Nabiki was betting it was Ranma.

"Ranma you pervert! How could you sleep with Ukyou in my house?"

Ranma sleeping with Ukyou? No way. Last night, he had come to her room to pay his debts and had gone to bed right after that. There was no way Ranma could have slept with Ukyou last night. Speeding her pace up, Nabiki entered the guest room at a slow jog. Akane was shouting outside at someone.

"Ranma, you idiot!"

After throwing her insult down at the ground, Nabiki caught a glimpse of Akane throwing something small down at Ranma. Satisfied with the punishment she had dealt to the pigtailed martial artist, Akane turned on her foot and proceeded to stomp out of the room, her face still red with anger. Walking over to the window so she could check on Ranma, Nabiki noticed two objects lying on the floor next to the remains of Ranma's bed roll. One was a lock of black hair tied at both ends by a yellow ribbon; the other was... a ten yen coin.

The ten yen coin had caught her attention. There was something that seemed different about it. It looked like a normal ten yen piece, almost exactly the same as the one she had lost in that wreck of a fight from a few weeks ago. That ten yen had been her lucky coin since she was little. Looking closely at the coin, she noticed someone had been trying to engrave something into the coin. It looked like the letters... "N" and... "T."

Nabiki Tendo.

Ranma had been making her a new lucky coin.  
It was cheesy and childish, but it was from Ranma and it was very sweet.

_Ranma!_

Suddenly remembering her reason for being in the room, Nabiki rushed to the window expecting to see an unconscious Ranma. What she saw would haunt her for the rest of her days. Akane had evidently taken Ranma by surprise in his sleep, and knocked him outside. By the time he realized what had happened, Nabiki guessed that the hard ground had knocked him back into unconsciousness. The added insult and thrown object only made it worse.

"RANMMMMMMAAAAAA!"

Nabiki screamed as she bolted back into the hallway, running as fast as she could, toward the fallen boy. The reason for her horror. A spatula. A lone throwing spatula lodged in Ranma chest as blood stained his shirt.

Later that Evening...

Nabiki Tendo's Diary...

Ranma got hurt today, hurt real bad. It seems little sister overreacted again. I'm not really sure why. Ranma has been hurt by little sister before, but this time was different, this time Ranma didn't get up. The blood...oh kami... it seemed like it was everywhere. I can still see it, the sight of it all over him. It seems to me that things were serious now more than ever. It scared me. That sounds funny as I write it, but I was scared. I was scared of having a little sister in jail...I was scared of not being able to tell Ranma thank you. With everything he had done for me...I was scared of losing Ranma.

Thankfully, Ranma made it through. He came away with a mild concussion and some stitches this time, but it was only a few hours before he was back to his normal self. Something was different it was almost if things looked the same but underneath were different. The thought of losing Ranma scared me, scared me bad. The thought of Saotome, Mr. big bad martial artist being hurt possibly killed... it made me feel guilty...

This was Ranma, so naive a 5 year old could fool him.  
This was Ranma, the best Martial artist of his generation.  
This was Ranma, who I pawned off on my little sister.  
This was Ranma, the man who saved my life.

This was Ranma, the man I love...

Present day...

Ranma Saotome slept peacefully, unaware of his wife's deep reflection into the past. Nabiki gazed quietly at her sleeping husband's face. Ranma wasn't really a deep sleeper, often it was just a general lack of sleep that made him seem that way. However, Nabiki decided that Ranma had gotten enough sleep and it was time to wake up. Nabiki began to place feather-light kisses on her husband's face. To Nabiki's surprise and delight, Ranma almost immediately woke up and began responding to her kisses.

Crystal blue eyes and a cocky grin instantly adorned Ranma's face as he joined the land of the conscious. Pulling Nabiki closer Ranma began to whisper...

"Mmm... Now that is definitely a nice way to wake up!"

Nabiki's soft laughter filled the hotel room as she pulled her husband tighter; replying...

"I'll have to remember that the next time I have to wake you up, Mr. Saotome!"

"Just remember the consequences of your actions, Mrs. Saotome!"

"You little!"

Grinning confidently, Ranma replied. "Ranma Saotome doesn't lose, even to his wife."

"Oh yeah?"

Reaching behind her head, Nabiki grabbed the pillow by the headboard. Bringing it down her side, she swiftly swung it at her grinning husband's face. With little fanfare, and total surprise on Ranma's side, the pillow impacted right on target. Ranma's reply was much simpler. He rolled to the side, pinning his giggling wife underneath him. Ranma did not bother with words; he just began passionately kissing his wife, showing her exactly how wild her husband was about her.

Having risen from the bed, much later in the day, Nabiki called down to have room service bring up some lunch. She knew her husband was always hungry, and after the delightful workout they just had, he would be doubly hungry. Looking down upon the love of her life, she smiled sadly. Idly, she wondered how on earth she got so lucky. Ranma began to snore cutely, as Nabiki rolled her eyes at her sleeping husband. Only he could make as much noise asleep as he did awake sometimes. Nabiki sighed, and dismissed those thoughts as she made her way toward the bathroom. She never made it. After taking two steps she slid to the ground unconscious. The light behind her seem to shimmer lightly, and the return to normal.

Then it happened, a dark humanoid shape flared to life behind the unconscious martial artist, and began dragging the woman toward her unconscious husband. Leaning down the dark figure peered at the unconscious couple before leaning down to place two strange gems on each of them. Standing up, the figure stepped back several feet before opening a small book, and beginning to chant rapidly. As the stranger's chant increased in intensity, the lights around the room began to flicker, and the air grew heavier and heavier. Upon the finish of the incantation, the two gems began to glow brighter and brighter giving of some type of eldritch light. Before the light got too bright, the figure spoke, giving one last rueful glance to unconscious couple, he remarked...

"Sorry, guys. But I gotta do this."

With that finally said, the strange gems erupted into a massive explosion of energy, the energy of change. A change that made Ranma and Nabiki Saotome disappear.

Waking up had rarely come easy for one Ranma Saotome. Jealous fiancées, numerous enemies, and a paternal panda often interfered with Ranma getting a good night's sleep. Rude awakenings were quite common in Ranma's life and to the pigtailed martial artist they were a fact of life. It was that fact that alarmed Ranma so much, when he awoke tonight very easily. No water bucket, or lovesick girl had woke him up, he just woke up. The darkness of sleep had faded, and Ranma Saotome was awake.

The red glare of the alarm clock in the corner said 3:00 AM. To Ranma, this was yet another clue that something was wrong. The next clue was the presence of a large snoring panda, which Ranma was quite sure he had left several thousand miles behind him. Sitting up, Ranma noticed the final and largest clue that something was wrong. It was the lack of a warm feminine body snuggled beside him. It was his missing wife, Nabiki Saotome.

Looking to the side, Ranma stared at the snoring panda. Ranma's head spun around the room wildly as he struggled to understand where he was. How on earth could, his pop be here with him? The wrecking crew and family were left behind when he and Nabiki made their escape. So how on earth was he laying there asleep next to Ranma?

A loud feminine scream broke Ranma's train of thought.

"!"

He immediately recognized the scream. Leaping from his futon, Ranma ran out of the guest room. The natural instinct to protect his mate was singing in his veins as his adrenaline powered muscle moved him through the house to Nabiki's room and the sound of the cry. Seeing no one else around, Ranma slowly opened the door and peered in, checking to see what lay before him. The sight that Ranma saw tore at his heart.

Nabiki was huddled in one corner of the room; her legs up against her chest as she sobbed wildly. Every choked sob and tear ate at Ranma's heart. Even to him, it was obvious Nabiki was upset. Nabiki was in great emotional pain, and it was up to Ranma to help her. Making his decision to enter, he heard her speak through her tears...

"Nooooooo!"

"It couldn't have been a dream...Nooo... I loved him..."

Walking in Ranma pushed the door open and called out...

"Biki!"

The mere thought of causing Nabiki any pain hurt Ranma. The thought of being without her wherever he went hurt Ranma. Ranma called out again.

"Biki?"

With one word, darkness turned to light and despair gave way to hope. Tears stopped and the room went silent, as Nabiki looked up hoping to see the one person she valued more than anyone or anything in the world... her husband. Ranma Saotome.

The sound of Ranma's pet name and the sight of him standing in the darkness of her room caused her heart to race and weight to be lifted from her shoulders. Immediately she leapt from the bed into his arms, clutching at him tightly to assure herself that he was real and not just a figment of her imagination. After Nabiki leapt into his arms, Ranma comforted his wife the best way he knew how... he simply held her.

"Shhhhh...Don't cry. I'm here."

"Don't worry Biki. I'm here and I won't leave you. I love you."


End file.
